Beetroot is at its best when roasted. The earthy sweet flavour is more intense. I usually add a splash of olive oil, a chilli roughly chopped and a roughly smashed clove of garlic and roast at about 200 degrees C until soft and cooked through. And I never cut the stems off at the bulb. I leave about 2 cm of the stems attached to the bulb to avoid as much bleeding as possible.

To make this ice cream I roasted the beetroot without the garlic and chili. Once it was cool I removed the skins and stems, pulsed it in the food processor until smooth and then passed through a sieve to make sure there were no lumps.

Pour the whipping and double cream into a saucepan, add the vanilla. Slowly bring to just below boiling point (small bubbles will form around the edges of the saucepan).

Put the yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Add one ladle of the cream mixture to the eggs while whisking. Add another 2 ladles, whisking well after each addition. Add the egg mixture to the cream, add the beetroot and cook over a low heat for another 15 minutes while stirring. Make sure that the mixture does not come to the boil. When the mixture coats the back of the spoon it is ready. Add a pinch of salt and the orange zest. Cool the mixture for at least 6 hours and churn the ice cream as per the instructions of your ice cream maker.